In the President Bush’s state of the union speech, he called for an “American Competitiveness Initiative” and the tech industry likes what they heard.
The program calls for a massive $5.9 billion in 2007 and move that up to $136 billion over the next ten years. The money will go toward improving research and development, science and mathematics education and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.
“To keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity,” he said. “Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hard-working, ambitious people — and we’re going to keep that edge.”
The tech industry come out in droves to support the initiative. InternetNews quoted Intel chairman Craig Barrett, “The business community commends the president for making American competitiveness a national goal. We urge government leaders to take immediate bipartisan action to ensure U.S. innovation leadership, including a renewed emphasis on math and science education, additional investment in basic research and incentives for business investment in innovation that creates new jobs.”
This was just one of many tech company leaders offering praise for the Initiative. As it stands now, other nations, including India and China are building and strengthening in the tech industry and the U.S. must remain competitive. If the U.S. is to keep its edge, then education must be available and research must be funded in order to ensure that edge. Let’s hope the Initiative is taken.
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John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
